It's been a while since I had a free Saturday to myself. I miss having full weekends just lounging around in my room.
In my last post, I had mentioned taking the Le Bran class. I went back the following Friday, with JB in tow, as she wanted to try it out as well. I'm glad she enjoyed it, and I do hope she comes back to attend more classes.
After Le Bran, I had a little breather, changed my sweaty top, and started my one-on-one class with Julius. We did a review of 4 of the 5 Latin ballroom dances used in competition (rumba, chachacha, samba, and jive), then spent the rest of the hour focusing on my footwork and hip movements in chachacha. I have lousy footwork, especially when doing the New York and the time step, plus I haven't developed the high hip, as my hips automatically drop all throughout a dance.
I know it's wrong to compare, but I noticed the similarities and differences between my 2 teachers. They're both perfectionists when it comes to technique, but they have their own ways of being strict with me. And both of them even text me, telling me to keep practicing.
Anyway. In other news...
Last Saturday, our clique is now one more bachelor down. Aris married Karla in Tagaytay, and a bunch of us trekked all the way to the venue, no matter how misleading the maps provided were, hahaha. I lost my voice all week due to cough, but I had enough vocal rest to get me through that day, as I was tasked to do the first Liturgical reading, along with Iam (responsorial psalms) and Ramon (second reading).
What amused me at that wedding was that the world keeps getting smaller and smaller. I already knew that Chinie is one of Karla's first cousins, but I saw more familiar faces. I saw Isabel, a classmate from my first couple of terms in CSB, plus Jayar, a fellow technical theater major.
Hilarious reception, as Seph (as best man) and Josh (as one of the groomsmen) had to give a speech. Knowing Aris' history in our clique, they had to tiptoe around certain stories, but with their wit, they pulled off their speeches real well. The only thing that we regret seeing that evening was watching Aris dance the jive that I've taught him, Karla and Tito Fred. Hahaha! Some things just cannot be unseen. But I'm glad Karla and Tito Fred's part of the dance was done well.
I was supposed to attend Le Bran and take another one-on-one class this past Wednesday, but because I still had an uncontrollable cough that went along with my lousy voice, I couldn't go. I didn't want to risk coughing all over the place.
I did come back yesterday, Friday. And because Opa wanted to learn a little bit of ballroom for the play that she's doing, I got her, with her sister Hannah (Joanne?) in tow, to attend Le Bran. I sure hope they enjoyed it, and I also do hope they also come back. When Bran had approached us after the class, I introduced them and he said that he had noticed that they seem to already have certain dance backgrounds already, moreso with Opa's sister (ballet).
They stuck around the dance studio while I had my one-on-one lesson with Julius. We just focused on the chachacha that day, still working on my crazy footwork. I think part of the reason why I can't get certain things right because I grew up with feet mostly turned in, hence my lousy turnout and bad footwork for the New York. Plus there was too much to take in in such a small amount of time. I have to consider where I put my weight, how to push the floor with my feet, how my hips move, where my feet and upper body goes, and of course, the fact that I have to respond to my dance partner's push and pulls on my hands and arms. During a couple of times, Bran even walked over to us and assisted Julius, and there were some things that were a lot clearer to me. And of course, he also reminded me of the never-ending lesson of learning and unlearning. I learned something new that day about terminology, plus how the lock step was done correctly.
I remember posting a little realization on Twitter yesterday, about why Ian kept telling me over and over again about keeping my heels down when doing the rumba walk. It's still very essential when doing the chachacha, because that's what I needed to work on for the New York, as well as for the time step.
After the class, Julius had mentioned the syllabus competition next month, and told me that I should try to join, even just for the solo event. Eep, I don't think I'm prepared for that, so I told him that maybe I'll just watch. He then said that he'll just see how I'll turn out before then.
I still miss Ian, though. I miss his classes despite the fact that it's open instead of syllabus. I miss the fun factor when I attend his classes, plus we get to talk and somehow bond afterwards. I guess that's why I can't wait for November. I really hope that he really follows through with the workshop that he mentioned. In the meantime, I'll just take more classes at Dancing Queen until I go back to training under him.
